Indore man finds wife’s grave missing

NATALIE FERNANDES (25.12.1953-22.09.2003): that’s what the cross on the grave should have read. But on Easter Sunday, when Francis Fernandes visited his wife’s grave at the Juni Indore graveyard with fresh flowers, he got the shock of his life. The cross was missing. In its place was a brand new wooden cross with no details — and a fresh grave. Padma Shastri reports.

NATALIE FERNANDES (25.12.1953-22.09.2003): that’s what the cross on the grave should have read. But on Easter Sunday, when Francis Fernandes visited his wife’s grave at the Juni Indore graveyard with fresh flowers, he got the shock of his life. The cross was missing. In its place was a brand new wooden cross with no details — and a fresh grave.

When he inquired about it, the cemetery guard abused him and turned him away. He then complained to cemetery committee chairman Father Biju Mathew and parish priest Father Jolly John.

“Church authorities say the grave got lost in the debris after the cemetery wall collapsed in October. But it existed when I visited two months back,” said Fernandes. He added: “The authorities have done this deliberately to insult me because I've been disclosing their wrongdoings… I fear my wife’s bones have been removed. I want them back.”

The most logical explanation may be the space crunch faced by cemeteries. Father John seemed to admit as much: “There is no scope for expansion and no space. We’ve taken a decision to allow burials one over the other.” He said he was checking the records.